Management Toolkit

Courts on track for e-working by March 2010

Kable

Published: 14 Sep 2009 08:51 BST

HM Courts Service is aiming for a March 2010 deadline to implement its electronic working programme.

Programme director Nigel Kelly told Kable's Delivering Efficiencies in Public Sector IT conference that funding for the project will end in March of next year.

The organisation plans to implement the programme for the Chancery by the end of November and the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Courts by the end of March. This follows the delivery earlier this year to the Commercial Court and the Technology and Construction Court. The schedule also involves monthly point releases for minor enhancements.

"It's quite unique in terms of being an e-filing and e-management system," Kelly said. "We must deliver the whole project by March 2010 and that's when the money runs out, and we must enable a working practice change."

The programme involves providing a system, based on Adobe Livecycle software, to handle the process from raising legal claims through to their listing for enforcement. It also involves a function for requesting default judgements.Kelly claimed the service has made good progress in developing the programme.

"We are extremely agile," he said. "The project team moves around jurisdictions and delivers in short, sharp bursts. It has upset a few people on the way but the business is benefiting."

He said it has been important that it did not move deadlines and focused on the "must have" functions rather than the "shoulds and coulds".

Kelly acknowledged, however, that many legal firms have been slow to adapt to the early implementations as they are still using paper-based processes.